Unanswerable Questions (No 2)

Why do the 'reporters' on BBC Reporting Scotland insist on waving their hands about when making their reports? It is not difficult to correct - simply tie their hands behind their backs. Or, at least, give them some training. Or, if the worst comes to the worst, focus the camera on the head and shoulders.

The poor young woman who has spent the last three weeks reporting on the Sheridan case has an obvious problem, in that she apparently cannot talk without violent gesticulation. Perhaps she has been over-excited by her subject matter, but that is no excuse.

Unanswerable Questions (No 1)

The first in a series:

Why do women in soaps (Coronation Street, East Enders, even Bad Girls) always appear as if they had just left the hairdresser's? (Not necessarily a good hairdresser's...)

Straight talking?

Not sure that the Executive is hitting the correct note. Their press release states:

Sexual Health Week, which aims to raise awareness about health issues, begins on Monday.
Health Minister Andy Kerr said: "Improving Scotland's poor sexual health record is a priority for us...
Our message for good sexual health is - 'delay until you're ready, but be safe when you are active'."

Does Mr Kerr believe that this message will strike a chord with today's teenagers? I will not see 50 again, but I suspect that tiptoeing around the issue will not deliver the goods. If this is what you mean, then why not say it?

For heaven's sake, wear a condom or you will get a nasty disease.

There but for the grace of God...

We can all make mistakes. The Evening News highlights a particularly embarrassing one:

"IT has been observed for centuries and for Scots around the world it is a day of celebration.
But it seems not everyone at the Scottish Executive knows the date of St Andrew's Day.
Despite an ongoing campaign to have it declared a public holiday, civil servants have sent out letters which refer twice to St Andrew's Day being on November 31, instead of November 30...
The letter, signed by an official from the Scottish Executive's international division, says the Executive is committed to celebrating St Andrew's Day.
But it says Mr Canavan's Bill would not guarantee workers a day off, pointing out holiday entitlement is an issue between employers and employees. The proposed Bill would amend the list of bank holidays "by adding 31 November to the schedule". However, the letter warns: "The only direct effect of the Bill would be to allow for financial and other dealings to be suspended on 31 November."

The poor sod who signed the letter will never be allowed to forget it.

The end of an era?

One would have thought that the Americans had enough on their plates. But The New York Times reports:

"Cuba was wrapped in uncertainty on Tuesday, as the Communist government released a statement suggesting that its longtime ruler, Fidel Castro, had survived intestinal surgery but giving few details of his condition.
After a long day of speculation and rumor, an announcer on state-run television and radio said he had spoken to Mr. Castro and read a statement that he said had been written by the Cuban leader, who will be 80 on Aug. 13. In the statement, Mr. Castro said that his condition was stable but that the full extent of his illness would not be known for several days...

Sean McCormack, a State Department spokesman, made it clear on Tuesday that the United States would take an active role in shaping events on the island if the Cuban leader dies. “The United States and the American people will do everything that we can to stand by the Cuban people in their aspirations for a democracy,” he said.
President Bush said Monday, before Mr. Castro’s illness was announced, that the United States policy would be to undermine Raúl Castro’s rise to power. “We are actively working for change in Cuba,” he said, “not simply waiting for change.”

I suppose that i should not be surprised by the USA's willingness to admit openly to interference in the domestic affairs of a foreign country. While Cuba is far from being the promised socialist land, I fear that too many interests in the USA want to turn Cuba into the Las Vegas of the Caribbean.

Many years ago, I spent three weeks travelling in Cuba. It is hardly a sound basis on which to judge an entire country, but I liked the place and the people.

The Governator

Sometimes The Guardian can be vindictive. Here it pours scorn on Ahnuld's environmental pretensions:

"Arnie drives a Hummer. And not just one. At one time the governor had a fleet of eight of the brutes to ferry him from photo op to photo op. He also has a private jet, which can be seen whooshing over the beach at Santa Monica as it takes him from his Los Angeles home to his office in the state capital, Sacramento, 400 miles to the north.
Arnie does do his bit for the environment. At weekends he rides a motor-cycle. But this being Arnold, it is no enviro-friendly Vespa. Rather, in keeping with his screen image, Arnie's mount of choice is a gas-guzzling, ear-drum-piercing Harley, which - until it emerged that he didn't have a licence - he liked to ride up and down Pacific Coast Highway, or as it will shortly be renamed, the Mel Gibson Memorial Highway.
But this is California. Forget the reality. Dig the artifice. Arnold has made an announcement, showing "extraordinary" leadership, as his new pal Tony put it. The seventh-largest economy in the world, the 12th-largest source of greenhouse gas, will put its muscle behind an initiative to fight the effects of climate change."

Look, at least he's not George W. And even lip service in la-la land is progress of a sort...

Executive has had enough with Stornoway

It may have been labelled as a resignation but it looks like a sacking to me. And there has obviously been some preparation before the announcement. The Executive's press release has the story:

"A top level support team is being sent in to assist NHS Western Isles, following the resignation of Chairman David Currie.
As well as appointing a seconded Chair to lead the Board, the Executive is also sending in a senior managerial and clinical team to support the Chair and ensure the Board and its members are working effectively with partners for the benefit of the local community.
The seconded Chair will be Ronnie Cleland, a non-Executive Board member of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. The support team will be led by Malcolm Wright, Chief Executive of NHS Education for Scotland...
Mr Currie's resignation will take effect when Mr Cleland formally takes over, expected to be next week.
Ronnie Cleland, a non-Executive Board member of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde is a former Chair of North Glasgow University Hospitals NHS Trust. He and the rest of the Board will be supported by a team led by Malcolm Wright, Chief Executive of NHS Education for Scotland, and former Chief Executive of NHS Dumfries and Galloway. Appointments will also be made for the rest of the team which will also include senior clinical support."

And exactly where does this leave the existing (if acting) chief executive and the senior management team? The back story (or at least part of it) is here.

It is, to say the least, unusual for the Executive to take such decisive action. I imagine that we will hear a lot more about this over the next few days.

Re-arranging the deckchairs

The SNP makes a song and dance about smaller government. The Scotsman reports:

"A RADICAL plan to curb the size of government in Scotland - including cutting the number of Executive departments, appointing fewer ministers and reducing civil service numbers - will be at the heart of the Scottish National Party's Holyrood election manifesto...
Under the plan, which will be implemented as part of the "first 100 days" of an SNP-led Executive, the departments of development; education; enterprise, transport and lifelong learning; environment and rural affairs; finance and central services; health; justice; legal and parliamentary services and the office of the permanent secretary will be abolished.
They will be replaced by a department of the first minister and departments for finance and sustainable growth; health and well-being; education and skills; rural affairs; and justice.
A cabinet-level minister will be in charge of each of the six, reducing the number of senior ministers who are MSPs from 11 to six."

Well, bully for the SNP: the Scottish cabinet would be smaller, a benefit which is certainly not to be sniffed at. (Though we wait to see if this aspiration survives a coalition deal where cabinet seats become bargaining chips.) But where is there any sign of the Executive doing less? What functions are to be dropped? Or is it simply the case that fewer ministers are expected to do more? Is this all the SNP has to say about the structure of government?

This blog is not irreversibly opposed to the SNP. Indeed, it seems to us quite likely that they may have to form a government next May. But they really need to show signs that they are doing some serious thinking about what to do if it happens. The kind of nonsense discussed above may earn them a headline but it will not cut it in terms of serious preparation.

The rewards of public service

At the risk of contributing to the all-consuming passion for knowing who earns what, Scotland on Sunday has carried out a survey:

"A survey of the highest- earning leaders in the Scottish government, civil service, university sector and hospitals shows bumper salary rises well in excess of the average 3% increase that are common-place among lower-grade staff.
The nation's highest earning executive in the public sector is Jon Hargreaves, chief executive of Scottish Water, whose basic salary of £215,000 has increased by 23% in three years.
Next is Professor Duncan Rice, principal of Aberdeen University, who took home £202,000. In third place is Dr Brian Lang, the principal of St Andrews University, who took home £197,000...
By contrast, First Minister Jack McConnell, who earns £126,610, is the only Scottish politician on the list in 28th place, below the chief executive of Fife Council and no less than three civil servants at the Scottish Executive over whom he has control."

Somewhat bizarre that the First Minister earns less than the chief executive of Fife Council. But the figures do explain the attraction of the university sector for senior civil servants nearing retirement.

Hope springs eternal...

OK, the lads lost in the final. But they did us proud. Even Ian Bell in The Sunday Herald gets a wee bit carried away:

"Not so long ago a consensus was reached by coaches, the media, former players and fans alike. Football in Scotland, we all agreed, was no longer producing talent. The well was dry. Decline was permanent, humiliation inevitable.
Not true. Youth is never a slave to yesterday. Tomorrow is the only thing that matters. Today, though, we can share the emotions for which we have long envied other countries: pride, actually, and a bit of hope. That’s more than enough for now."

A question of priorities

Yeah, I agree it's tough for NHS staff. The BBC website reports:

"Staff at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary are fainting on the wards because of the heat, according to unions.
Unison said temporary measures like fans and portable air conditioning units were not enough.
The health workers' union said the problem had existed for four years at ERI and was not just a result of this summer's high temperatures.
NHS Lothian said the hospital was not built with air conditioning, but it was now being installed."

But... is anybody concerned about the patients?

Not in my name

Being an essentially pacificist kind of bloke, I am not really happy about this development, reported by the BBC website:

"Two more American flights carrying "hazardous cargoes" bound for Israel are to refuel at Prestwick Airport this weekend, it has emerged.
It is unclear exactly what will be on board the planes.
However, campaigners fear they will be carrying more high-tech bombs to be used in the conflict in Lebanon.
US President George Bush has apologised to Tony Blair over the previous use of Prestwick Airport to refuel planes carrying bombs to Israel. The prime minister's spokesman said Mr Bush gave a "one-line" apology for the fact proper procedures had not been followed."

Whether or not the proper procedures have been followed, I would prefer the Americans not to use my country to facilitate the supply of arms to a war in the Middle East.

The two little letters before your name that mean so much

Does it really matter? Mr (sorry, Dr) McKenna obviously thinks so. The Guardian reports:

"After more than nine years of dispute, months of legal wrangling and huge costs on both sides, the entertainer and hypnotist Paul McKenna yesterday won his libel trial against the publishers of the Daily Mirror for suggesting he had knowingly obtained a "bogus" PhD from an American university.
"Much energy has been expended to very little purpose," was Mr Justice Eady's judgment on the case yesterday. "No doubt there would have been various windows of opportunity for sensible compromise and setting the record straight. Yet the parties seem to have been determined to fight to a standstill ... Costs are no doubt massive on both sides [yet] what all this has achieved is open to question."

PhDs always seemed kind of pointless to me, unless one was an academic; but then I don't have one...

Why do people die?

Like crime statistics, statistics on the causes of death need to be considered carefully. No such careful consideration for The Scotsman, whose lead story today offers drama and moral opprobrium together:

"A RECORD number of women died from alcohol abuse in Scotland last year, new figures have revealed.
Experts said the increasing death toll was being fuelled by a generation of women whose attitude towards drinking was formed by the liberal values of the 1960s and 70s.
Statistics from the Registrar General for Scotland, published yesterday, showed 492 women died of alcohol-related diseases last year, compared with 441 in 2004. The increase was highest among women aged 30 to 60."

The full report is available here.

Gee, those liberal values of the 1960s and 70s have a lot to answer for (although I do not recall anything in those values that actually encouraged young women to get legless every saturday night). Nevertheless, it is perhaps worth noting that 492 female deaths in Scotland in 2005 amounted to less than 2 per cent of the total female deaths in Scotland in that year. Secondly, how much of the increase between 2004 and 2005 was due to the relative willingness of doctors to assign the cause of death to alcohol-related diseases? Doctors are human, after all, and perhaps it is becoming more acceptable to grieving relatives to be more honest on the death certificate. Thirdly, we all have to die of something: if the death of women in childbirth or of tuberculosis becomes less frequent, other causes inevitably become more prominent.

So can we trust the statistics? Sure, this is the GRO after all. Just don't be too quick to draw conclusions from them.

As an example, I offer you this from the same Scotsman article:

"By contrast, the number of alcohol- and smoking-related deaths among men dropped over the same period."

Nobody would suggest that this means we can go back to smoking in pubs. So let us not get too excited about the reverse trend for women. And, please, let us not assign blame to liberal values without good reason.

Great newspapers think alike

This is from The Times (here):

"Things got worse for Fletcher moments later when Herve Piccirillo, the referee, decided to book him for diving, when he seemed to stumble through a challenge from Jan Simunek. The Hibernian player looked to the heavens after seeing the yellow card as, with 85 minutes of the semi-final to go, he knew he wouldn’t play in the final due to suspension."

This is from The Herald (here):

"Fletcher was then booked by referee Herve Piccirillo for diving, when he appeared to stumble through a challenge from stopper Jan Simunek."

This is from The Scotsman (here):

"Things got worse for Fletcher moments later when referee Herve Piccirillo decided to book him for diving, when he simply seemed to stumble through a challenge from defender Jan Simunek.
The player looked disconsolately to the heavens after seeing the yellow card as, with 85 minutes of the contest still to go, he knew he wouldn't be playing in Saturday's final regardless of the outcome due to suspension."

As you might have guessed, the reporter in each case was a Mr Craig Swan. I trust that he was paid three fees.

BTW, great result for the Scotland Under 19 team.

The spongers

You can see why they would want to keep it quiet, but The Telegraph gives the game away (here):

"Early next month, Tony Blair and his family will be heading to a millionaire friend's villa on Barbados...
Although Downing Street refused to comment on Mr Blair's holiday plans, there are reports that he will be staying with Russell Chambers, a City banker, who entertained the Blairs last year when they stayed at Sir Cliff Richard's Barbados villa. There is speculation that the Blairs - whose recent holiday destinations have included friends' villas in Italy and the south of France, and the Red Sea resort of Sharm el Sheikh - have been looking for a holiday property on Barbados."

I don't see why the Blairs' holiday plans should be kept secret. By their summer vacations, shall ye know them. By contrast, the McConnells are reputed to be in Arran.

Auntie Annabel on the warpath?

It's no fun being a Scottish Tory when the London leadership is dragging the party into the soggy political centre. Douglas Fraser in The Herald highlights the growing disparities and concludes:

"As his own parliamentary secretary inadvertently told us in a leaked e-mail, Cameron's cavalier approach to reinventing Conservatism is causing trouble in the ranks. Could it be that Annabel Goldie's manifesto could become a rallying point for the Thatcherite right, with English Tory foot soldiers demanding more of what the Scots are being offered? The doughty Scottish spinster could be on course to become a conference heroine to the formidable English matrons watching enviously from the south."

It's a nice thought but I suspect that the English Tories neither know nor care what is happening north of the border. The redoubtable Ms Goldie is most unlikely to be offered a platform at the Tory Party Conference other than in the most marginal of sideshows. Do the Notting Hill set or the English party as a whole care about the Scottish election result? Other than feeling mildly benevolent to their caledonian counterparts, probably not.

Fat fish

Why do the photos of giant sunfish (here, for example, in The Guardian) remind me - irresistibly - of the Rt Hon John Prescott MP?

Dressing up

Marcel Berlins in The Guardian exposes the fatuity of Dr Reid's plan to put the immigration service into uniform:

"On the uniforming of the guardians of our frontiers, I can imagine the conversation. Two potentially illegal entrants (Pies) are talking. Pie 1: "OK, so it's settled, We leave for Britain tomorrow." Pie 2: "No, we can't now. I've just heard the news. Their passport control officers are to wear uniforms in future." Pie 1: "A pox on Dr Reid. All our carefully laid plans have been dashed. We'll have to look for another country to enter illegally."

I should stress that I have nothing personal against Dr Reid. Indeed, back in the good old days, I briefly met the man during a fag break on some official occasion and he was both pleasant and witty. But, as a minister, he does seem to act with an eye to the next day's headlines, even where it would conflict with the principles of good governance.

Fantasyland

So the old bruiser is going to re-introduce embarcation controls. The BBC reports:

"Home Secretary John Reid has outlined plans to toughen border controls as part of changes he says will make the UK immigration system work properly.
There will be uniformed immigration officers at ports and airports - and by 2014 passport checks to ensure there is a record of who has left the UK.
Mr Reid said he was putting forward long term solutions "not quick fixes".

Why bother, if it's not going to happen before 2014? Furthermore, embarcation controls would in theory record the identities of those leaving the UK - but the people in whom the Home Office should be interested are those who haven't left. It would be a major task to tick off on the register of incomers those who have left, thus identifying those who haven't. Especially as there are some 90 million visitors per year to the UK. Nor does the Home Office have such a terrific record with computer systems (see the CSA, passport agency, identity cards and so on) as to inspire confidence that they will be able to get this one right, even after 8 years.

As Dr Reid says, it's not a quick fix - but some of us doubt if it's much of a long-term solution, either...